Multimedia & Videos

Multimedia content โ€” videos, audio files, animations, and embedded media โ€” presents distinct accessibility challenges.

Understanding Media Types

Media TypeDefinitionMinimum Requirements
Audio-only (pre-recorded)A podcast, audio recording, or audio file without videoTranscript of all spoken content and significant audio
Video-only (pre-recorded)Silent video โ€” no spoken wordsAudio description or text alternative describing the visual content
Synchronized media (pre-recorded)Video with audio โ€” the most common typeCaptions + audio description if visual content conveys information not in the audio
Live audioLive radio, live audio webcastReal-time captions
Live videoLive-streamed events with both audio and videoReal-time captions; audio description if visual content is essential
ImagesA still photograph, illustration, chart, graph, diagram, infographic, or decorative graphic โ€” any non-moving visual element embedded in digital contentAlt text describing the content and purpose of the image; decorative images marked with empty alt text (alt="") so screen readers skip them

Audio/Video Resources

Captions are required for all pre-recorded synchronized media under WCAG 1.2.2. Real-time captions are required for live events. Captions must be accurate, synchronized with the audio, and identify speakers when more than one person is speaking.

Auto-captions: use with significant caution

Auto-generated captions on YouTube, Zoom, and Kaltura are not WCAG-compliant as delivered. They average 60โ€“80% accuracy and regularly misidentify technical terms, names, and course-specific vocabulary. Auto-captions must be reviewed and corrected before content is published or distributed.

  • YouTube: Subtitles/CC โ†’ Edit โ†’ review and correct each caption segment
  • Kaltura: Caption & Enrich tab โ†’ Edit Captions โ†’ review and correct
  • Zoom Cloud Recordings: transcripts are generated automatically but require review

Tools for captioning

  • YouTube Studio โ€” built-in caption editor for all uploaded videos
  • Kaltura โ€” includes captioning tools
  • Amara โ€” free community captioning tool (amara.org)
  • Rev โ€” professional captioning service (rev.com); fee-based
  • 3Play Media โ€” enterprise captioning; ask your department about licensing

Transcripts are required for audio-only content and recommended for all video content as a supplement to captions. A transcript must include all spoken words, speaker identifications, and descriptions of significant non-speech sounds (e.g., [applause], [alarm sounds]).

  • Export the corrected caption file from YouTube or Kaltura and clean it up for use as a transcript
  • Post the transcript on the same page as the media โ€” not behind an additional click
  • For Moodle: use the Moodle text editor to add the transcript text directly below the embedded video

Audio descriptions are narrated descriptions of visual information in a video that is not conveyed by the audio track. Required when the video contains significant visual information that a blind user would miss โ€” such as a demonstration, a chart being discussed, or on-screen text not read aloud.

  • The simplest approach: record or re-record the video so the presenter verbally describes all significant visual information (e.g., โ€˜As you can see in the graph on the left, revenue increases in Q3โ€™ โ†’ becomes โ€˜In this graph, a bar chart shows revenue increasing significantly in Q3โ€™)
  • For existing videos: a separate audio description track can be added; this is more complex and typically requires professional services

of how to make accessible audio and video media.  

and how to make each accessible.

โ€“ and how to avoid epic (and embarrassing) gaffes.

Image Resources

Every informational image โ€” photographs, illustrations, charts, diagrams, and infographics โ€” must have descriptive alt text.

  • In Word: right-click the image โ†’ Edit Alt Text
  • In PowerPoint: right-click the image โ†’ Edit Alt Text
  • In Excel: right-click the image โ†’ Edit Alt Text
  • In HTML/web: add alt attribute to the img tag
  • In PDFs: remediate via Adobe Acrobat Pro โ†’ Tags panel
  • Decorative images: set alt="" in HTML, or mark as decorative in Office apps
  • Complex images (charts, graphs, infographics): provide a full text alternative as a caption or nearby paragraph
  • Resource: W3C Images Tutorial โ€” w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images